Effort Reporting is Northwestern’s method to fulfill the obligations for sponsored funding of salaries and benefits described in Uniform Guidance, Section 430: Compensation – Personal Services.

Fun fact: labor represents the largest proportion of direct research costs.

New for FY2024

Northwestern’s effort reporting certification frequency has changed for fiscal year 2024. Effort reports will now be reconfigured to accommodate a semi-annual certification cycle. The change reduces administrative burden for faculty and staff, complies with federal regulations, and aligns Northwestern’s effort reporting practices with peer institutions.

Certification Period	12-month Faculty	9-month Faculty	Reports Generated	Certifications Due
Reporting Period 1 (1R2024)	9/1-2/28	9/16-2/28	Late March	Late April
Reporting Period 2 (2R2024)	3/1-8/31	3/1-6/15	Late October (Both P2 and P3)	Late November
Summer  (SUM2024)	N/A	6/16-9/15 (Summer Salary Only)

Resources to Support Best Practices

The ASRSP website includes a collection of effort-related materials for the life cycle of an award. Sample tools are listed below.     

Training

The following trainings are essential for any staff with effort reporting responsibilities. Please note, Effort 101 is a prerequisite for Effort 102. 

Introduction to Effort Reporting

Effort 101 (on demand)  

Effort 102 (live sessions)
  

Planning Tools

Planning tools have been developed to support department administrators with setting up their sponsored salary expenses. NIH salary calculations can now be processed online, through the new webpage linked below. 

12-month salary planning template

9-month salary planning template (available if department does not have a custom template)

NIH Salary Cap Calculation Tool New!  

Common Calculations
 

Additional Resources

Key Effort Reporting Policies

Commitments 101

Institutional/Academic Base Salary Definitions

ERS Glossary
 

Contact

Tina Mete, Senior Financial Research Administrator, is the University resource for effort reporting.  Questions or requests for individual support can also be sent to [log in to unmask].